Operations Management And Quality Management At Boeing Company

Project Management and Operations Strategy

As stated by Nicholas and Steyn (2017), the project management tools and techniques play a crucial role for ensuring that the project of development of the Boeing’s advanced automated aircraft development process. The automation of the manufacturing process requires the correct implication of the technology and the analysis of the improved processes would allow the implication of the improved operations. The use of project scheduling methods, work breakdown structure, risk assessment process, and stakeholder management process would allow the implication of the successive project management plan for the project of Development and Production of Boeing’s 777x in Everett factory.

The origin of the Boeing Company can be traced back to 1916, at the time when American Timber merchant William Boeing which founded the Aero Products Company after developing a single engine two seat sea plane. The Boeing Company, an American Aerospace Company, the world’s largest and earliest manufacturer of the commercial jet transports is also a sole manufacturer of commercial jet transports, helicopters, space vehicles and missiles. It was also improved with the company’s attainment of the aerospace and the units of defence of the Rockwell International Corporation in the year 1996. The company merged with the Mc Donnell Douglas Foundation in the following year. It was formerly known as the Boeing Airplane Company, the present name was assumed by the firm in the year 1961 to reflect the expansion of the company in the fields which did not only focus on the manufacture of the aircraft.

The main business constituents are organised into three major groups of products and services which are that of commercial airplanes, military aircraft and missiles along with communications and space. The company’s military concerned activities are concentrated on the design, manufacture and support of fighter aircraft, bombers, transports, helicopters and missiles.

The commercial market of the jet aircrafts and the airline industry are extremely competitive and Boeing Company faces extensive competition and aggressive international competitors like Airbus, Embraer and Bombardier and even from the entrants like Irkut- United Aircraft Corporation from Russia, the COMAC from China and Mitsubishi Aircraft from Japan.

The company desires to continue its competition with the manufacturers of other aircrafts by providing the customers with products of greater value, support and services. The company continues to leverage its existent extensive customer support service and airplane’s life cycle. This comprises of aircraft acquisition, readying for service, maintenance, enhancing and upgrading and also transitioning into the next model. This allows the organisation to enjoy a high customer productivity level. The Boeing Defence, Space and Security also experiences significant competition in all the market segments form Lockheed martin, Raytheon Company, Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics. The companies like BAE Systems Airbus Group continue to build a strategic presence.

Boeing Company Overview

Operations management is one of the aspects of business which needs to be addressed properly as it is crucial for the company’s success. The operations of the business need to be handled properly when any issue occurs. The strength is to be measured to all the strategies that it has encountered. The Boeing Company remains tough even with all the struggles which have been faced by them.

A part of the operations management at Boeing Company for reaching its goals in a specific manner is to make their aircrafts on the major commercial aircraft front. This is achieved by getting the correct product mix, formulation and application of right market strategies and system of production. The system of operations management at Boeing comprises the avoidance of problems or difficulties by the avoidance of problems and difficulties by looking into them from before and forming solutions such that the problems can arise that the operations management will only have to perform them. The company always utilizes the pathways of production and manufacturing. The company was also able to get a better result in the maintenance routes of airlines which was possible by the management of all the costs that the company incurs with respect to the revenue it is earning.

The company also utilizes the tools and models which specifically addresses and reduces the problems which might be faced in terms of the size design of the aircrafts.

The operations management at Boeing is to utilize the support system and the tackling of the exact deployment times in order to increase the overall effectiveness of the operational effectiveness of the decisions involving the planes.

One of the most important duties of the Boeing’s operations management is to consider and be aware of all the accounting rules and taxation rules being performed in the several countries. Regarding the safety operation of the Boeing Air crafts the company has looked into and started the strategy of the reduction of the capacity limits and the speed of the air for prevention of the aircrafts facing any major problems especially during the periods of the flight.

The operations management principles that the company should ensure comprises of the proper operational planning. It should focus on a plan or a schedule which is achievable operationally and is also recoverable and amendable at the lowest cost possible. The aircraft assignment and utilization need to be kept in mind. The maintenance requirements of the aircraft need to be kept in mind (Christopher 2016).

Operations Management at Boeing Company

The operational plan of the company needs to be kept in mind properly by the Boeing Company so that the new aircraft to be launched does not. The efficiency of the new model Boeing 777X needs to be understood properly by the company in terms of its strengths and weaknesses.

The concept of quality management is extremely important in the aerospace industry more so in comparison to the manufacture and services industry. The changes in the market are inevitable and this is responsible for making the quality management a crucial component for the success of any business in the aerospace industry.

One of the most important strategies that need to be considered by the Aerospace industry is to be responsive to the changes in the industry. The aerospace industry faces several challenges in the wake of an unstable financial climate. The concept of total quality management allows the aerospace industries to stay crucial in a world that is very competitive and ever-growing amidst certain changes and learn to remain responsive to the changes in the industry. The services provided by them must ensure a certain amount of customer satisfaction for increasing their profits over time. The safety, maintenance and the regulatory compliance must be looked into in order to deal with the situations (Goetsch and Davis 2014).

The factors which influence the quality management comprise the pats and materials failure, the maintenance, repair and also that of supply chains. The aerospace products possess unique life cycles and must be understood in systems of total quality management. Implementation of the systems for the total quality management allows the person to address the issues related to the verification, availability, records and the traceability. Possessing the right systems will provide greater amount of efficiency within the company (Seuring 2013).

The companies who implement the quality management systems obtain a large range of benefits at the time of meeting customer expectations of both the customers as well as the investors. They possess greater amount of awareness of the needs of their interior processes. The total quality management also assists the organisations in the identification of the many operational improvement opportunities which might be overlooked otherwise. This can contribute to the removal of unnecessary costs and lead to the bettered performance over a span of time (Christopher 2016).

By the procedure of leveraging the quality management systems the organisation can optimize the products and services which the customers receive. The satisfaction level of the customers is increased and hence their satisfaction level and business growth is ensured. It also ensures total compliance to the standards within the industry and hence there is a better understanding of the improvement of operations and reduction of waste.

Quality Management in Aerospace Industry

Thus by being receptive to the industry changes and applying the quality management systems the long term triumph of the organisation is ensured. The benefit leveraging is ensured by keeping the system at the forefront of the aerospace industry.

It is the duty of the aviation company to ensure that the customers are taken care of properly. Quality of service which is provided should be high and there might be certain problems faced. The customers might be dissatisfied with the service. The safety implementation of the customers while they board the aircraft is a much serious issue. Hence it is desirable that they problems will be solved suitably. There are problems faced such as the challenges faced by the customers in the communication of the problems they are facing and the issues of messaging the issues they are facing.

There have been plenty of setbacks which have been experienced by Boeing with regard to the new 787 Dreamliner in the recent past. Some of the problems faced have a chance of being related to the attempts of the organization to outsource and modify the supply chain in order to produce the jets. The Planes have been grounded due to the issues with their electrical systems, unexpected fires and issues related to the battery. The majority of the problems were unanticipated and therefore the company tried hard to solve the problems. The outsourced supply chain which has been blamed needs to be resolved in case of the new 777X airlines.

The changing requirement of the passengers and emerging technologies are responsible for the aircraft companies to receive a bigger share of the market of the aerospace. The strategies have led to the complexities of the design of the aircraft, processes and the supply chain management (Iden 2012).

A plan needs to be devised such that the raw materials can be properly sourced. The procurement managers should be properly selected so that they accurately deal with the decisions of finding suppliers which are based on the clear cut specifications materialistically, the modes of transportation, and the timelines of delivery.

There is also an inherent risk of the supply being constrained due to improper prediction of the future demand, the inaccurate projections of pricing, the change in design and also the political disruptions. The supplier’s business context also needs to be understood. The company is required to work at close quarters with the suppliers and review the drivers of cost and the market trends for the mitigation of the risks that rise against inflation. The buyers should also review the present and future requirements in order to understand the availability of the materials and sources (Tayur, Ganeshan and Magazine 2012).

The plan should be built in such a way so as to cope with the new and innovative technologies based on the military aircraft and the commercial projects. These are the external influences on the success of the aircraft organisation (Haimes 2015).

The shortage of skilled workers should also be looked into so that no problem arises with regard to the development and building stage in the aircraft situation.

Many of the jobs present inside the factory might require training in a specialised way for the safe completion of different tasks. For this reason, it can be stated that by making this repetitive and difficult tasks automated the safety can be improved a lot. Along with safety the productivity as well as the quality can also be improved. This automation technique will make use of the combination of human as well as machine robotics (The Seattle Times 2017). The “deep learning model” is an advances AI technique which is used for the purpose of addressing the non-linear interactions of the work. This includes things like the conditions for safety, training, availability of the tools of parts along with the priorities for work. This provides a huge opportunity for the company. So the complex jobs will get automated which will be improving the productivity, quality and the safety which will be greatly helping in the meeting of the schedules. For the purpose of automating and leveraging the AI, the data collected from the sensors are connected to the machines traditional data like the design, inventory and the safety record so as to optimize the tasks (Chisholm et al. 2016). So instead of identification of the tasks that are to be automated, a data analysing model can be used for the purpose of analysing the data along with the determination of the patterns and recommendations of the best task that are to be automated.

According to Balogun (2015), various challenges might exist during the implementation of AI in the operational management system of Boeing and this potential challenges are listed below:

1. One of the major dilemma that might arise due to this implementation is the replacement of the human workers. This will ultimately lead to loss of jobs by the employees. The growing intelligence of the machines are also likely to be replacing the experts present at the higher level of Boeing. Many of the works which are risky for the human can be performed very much easily by the use of automation which thereby replaces the humans in the workplace.
2. Another challenge that might be faced by Boeing is hoe it teaches its AI along with the process in which the AI is being developed for the company.
3. The use of automation tools in the production lines of Boeing will also give rises to the risk of losing of jobs by humans.
4. One of the important challenge that can be faced by Boeing is that the AI robots will not be able to perform outside their pre-defined programming as they are not able to think by themselves.
5. The company can face a total loss if one of the chips installed in the AI robots malfunction. The chips are the main thing which controls the information and controls the work of the robots as well.
6. The cost of technology is also very much high.
7. Along with robots there would also be humans so the risk regarding the safety of human workers also exists.

Ref No.	Risk name	Likelihood	Severity	Control Strategy	Mitigation Strategy
#000RF1201	System Compatibility Issue	Occasional	Catastrophic	Avoid	Proper testing methods would be used
#000RF1202	Cost Overrun	Probable	Critical	Accept	Provisional Budgeting can be used
#000RF1203	Delay in Completion	Frequent	Marginal	Accept	Proper Scheduling methods should be used
#000RF1204	Quality Issues in Machines	Occasional	Catastrophic	Avoid	Quality Management Plan should be used
#000RF1205	Designing Flaws	Probable	Critical	Transfer	SDLC should be implied for designing
#000RF1206	Conflict among Team Members	Remote	Negligible	Exploit	Conflict management and Communication Management Plan should be used

Table 1: Risk Assessment Matrix for the Project

(Source: Brinkhoff et al. 2015, pp-132)

The project of Development and Production of Boeing’s 777x in Everett factory is deployed for forming the improved implementation plan for AI and robotics technology in Aeroplane manufacturing for Boeing. The goals of the project are,

1. System Alignment and Development for AI and Robotics Technology
2. Improved Functional Operations for the Aeroplane manufacturing process

• Formation of the project plan for cohesive development

The objectives of the project of Development and Production of Boeing’s 777x in Everett factory are,

• To develop and implement a project management plan for the Boeing’s 777x
• To use project management principles for scheduling and estimating process for project plan
• To implement specific AI and Robotics technology for automating the Aeroplane manufacturing

The project team members and their roles and responsibilities for the project of Development and Production of Boeing’s 777x in Everett factory are listed in the table below,

Resource Name	Roles and Responsibilities
Analyst	Identification of the Needs and Requirement Analysis of project
Documenter	Making Project Initiation and Project Charter Documents
Budgeter	Resource Requirement Analysis and Project Budgeting Estimation
Project Manager	Project Kick off meeting, Review and Sign up of the documents, Review and Design Approval, and Project is Closed
Planner	Collecting Existing Information for Project Planning, Selecting plan methodology for project, Developing Plan outline for AI and Robotics automation implementation, Reviewing the plan outline and making modifications, and Complete Plan is developed
System Analyst	System Requirements for automation is analysed
Production Manager	System Implementation is initiated, Assortment of Machines at appropriate places, System Implementation is Completed, and Required Modification is Done
Designer	New production process is designed with automated tools and Design is Simulated
Client	Review and Plan Approval by client and System is Approved
Contractor	Infrastructure required for implementation is developed
Programmer	Functional Programming for the system
Tester	Black Box Testing, White Box Testing, Test Results are Accumulated, and Final Testing of the System Operation
Maintenance Department	Product Maintenance Requirements are analysed, Maintenance Process is selected, and Maintenance Process is scheduled at some intervals
Trainer	Training manuals are developed, Training Programs are developed, and Training is provided to the operators of 777x

Table 2: Roles and Responsibilities of project team

(Source: Mok, Shen and Yang 2015, pp-453)

The project budgeting considerations include the standard rates of the project resources (both human and material) and the total working duration of the project of Development and Production of Boeing’s 777x in Everett factory. The following table would show the project budget considerations and total budget,

Resource Name	Type of Resource	Duration in hrs/units	Standard Rate	Total Budget
Analyst	Human	40	$60	$2,400
Documenter	Human	48	$70	$3,360
Budgeter	Human	32	$80	$2,560
Project Manager	Human	8	$140	$1,120
Planner	Human	96	$90	$8,640
System Analyst	Human	24	$100	$2,400
Production Manager	Human	64	$120	$7,680
Designer	Human	56	$100	$5,600
Client	Human	0	$0	$0
Contractor	Human	48	$120	$5,760
Programmer	Human	40	$130	$5,200
Tester	Human	80	$80	$6,400
Maintenance Department	Human	40	$100	$4,000
Trainer	Human	128	$70	$8,960
Components and tools	Material	1	$45,450	$45,450
Machines and Spares	Material	1	$60,470	$60,470
Total Budget	$170,000

Table 3: Cost Budget Consideration and Total Budget

(Source: Created by the author)

The stakeholder management for the Development and Production of Boeing’s 777x in Everett factory project is given below,

Stakeholder	Stakeholder’s Role	Stakeholder Assessment (High/Low)	Stakeholder Engagement (Current state/Desired state)
Influence	Interest	Unaware	Resistant	Supportive	Leading
Project Client	Approvals and Project Sponsoring	High	High			C	D
Management department of Boeing	Budget Allocation, Resource deployment, and Communication Management	High	Low		C	D
Project Manager	Successful Completion of the project	High	Low				CD
Implementation team	Completing specific activities of the project	Low	High	C		D
Maintenance Team of 777x	Maintaining the automation machines	Low	Low		C	D

Table 4: Stakeholder Management Plan Table for the Project

(Source: Garciaâ€ÂCastro and Francoeur 2016 pp-421)

The project lifecycle can be divided into requirement and documentation phase, planning and designing phase, implementation phase, verification phase, and maintenance and training phase (Chong and Hopkins 2016). These phases consist of number of activities such as,

Requirements and Documentation Phase: The phase comprises of Identification of the needs, requirement analysis of project, making project initiation documents, resource requirement analysis, project budgeting estimation, making project charter documents, project kick off meeting, and review and sign up of the documents activities.

Project Planning and Product Designing Phase: The phase is divided into two sub-phases namely planning phase and designing phase. The planning phase consists of collecting existing information for project planning, selecting plan methodology for project, developing plan outline for AI and robotics automation implementation, reviewing the plan outline and making modifications, complete plan is developed, and review and plan approval by client. The designing phase consists of system requirements for automation is analysed, new system components and tools are accumulated, machines and subsidiary parts are bought, new production process is designed with automated tools, design is simulated, and review and design approval activities.

System Implementation: The phrase consists of system implementation is initiated, infrastructure required for implementation is developed, assortment of machines at appropriate places, functional programming for the system, black box testing, white box testing, and system implementation is completed activities.

Verification Phase: The phase consists of test results are accumulated, required modification is done, and final testing of the system operation and system is approved activities.

Maintenance and Training Phase: The phase consists of product maintenance requirements are analysed, maintenance process is selected, maintenance process is scheduled at some intervals, training manuals are developed, training programs are developed, and training is provided to the operators of 777x activities

The problems in the project assumptions are,

• The system developed would not be compatible with the ongoing process of the Boeing’s Aeroplane Manufacturing
• The overall cost of the project would exceed the provided budget due to the shortage of the resources
• The project activities would not be completed in the estimated time duration due to any technical or resource usage issues
• The working capacity or performance of the machines developed would not meet the standard quality of the organization.
• The design developed for the system implementation with the aeroplane manufacturing would not be feasible for the organization
• The team members would tend to form divergence in ideas and it would cause a rift among them.

The mitigation strategies for the identified issues of the project are,

• The proper testing methods would be helpful for overcoming the system incompatibility issues
• The provisional budget resources can be used for overcoming the shortage of the resources in the project
• The proper scheduling methods such as Calender or Ms-Project should be used for ensuring the effective project schedule
• The quality management plan should be used for developing effective project outcomes
• The approach of SDLC should be implied for designing the system implementation with the aeroplane manufacturing
• The conflict management and communication management plan should be used for overcoming the difference in opinion among the project team members

Conclusion

From the above report it can concluded that there should be sufficient amount of effort on the part of the company representatives to work on the Boeing 777X. The proper quality management and supply chain management strategies need to be implemented so that the aim of the company to achieve global superiority by the year 2020 can be realized.

It is desired that the company keep the market competition in mind while tackling its strategies and help in the overall benefits to its branding and image. The company needs to work towards its goals in such a way that they can retain as well as expand the customer base.

The assignment developed had used the concept of the project management and technological development factor. The use of the effective project management operations had helped for overcoming the probability of system development methods. The report has covered the project scheduling methods, work breakdown structure, risk assessment process, and stakeholder management process for ensuring the complete project management plan.

Use of SDLC: SDLC methodology could be used for implementing the design development methodology and it would imply the management of the improved processes. The SDLC methodology would be helpful for forming the correct design for the system.

Implement Waterfall Approach: The use of Waterfall methodology would allow the development of the effective project schedule and it would help in overcoming the specific project operations.

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